The Small Business Administration (SBA) teamed up with the Downtown Development Authority of Augusta (DDA) and the Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce (GABC) to offer info on disaster relief and other pro-business initiatives to local entrepreneurs, Wednesday afternoon.
The partners had originally arranged the Small Business Recovery Workshop to convene in the Beazley Room of the Municipal Building at 535 Telfair St. Amid the snowy weather, the workshop, free and open to the public, was reorganized as a virtual seminar via Zoom.
SBA public affairs specialist Brian Beard was among the speakers of the webinar, expounding to some 20 attendees about its disaster relief loans for both homeowners and renters seeking relief for physical damages—up to $500,000—and businesses seeking to mitigate financial injury due to Helene, up to $2 million.
Beard included in his address the latest loan application deadline extension for counties in both Georgia and South Carolina affected by the storm, Feb. 7, as well as the roughly two-month grace period during which relief seekers may still apply for loans.
“From Feb. 7, you’ll still have another 60 days in which you can apply for a loan, but it will probably have to be done online,” Beard explained, noting that since Augusta was among the areas in Georgia that got some of the most sever damage, the disaster relief center at the HUB for Community Innovation, 631 Chafee Ave., may be among the last such centers to close. “Because our disaster recovery centers tend to start shutting down near the deadline. We had one open in Fulton County more recently, so it’ll probably be going up until the deadline… But that decision is made by the state emergency management and FEMA.”
Eric Frickey, senior business consultant at the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center (SBDC), reminded participants that the Augusta office off Davis Road is available to assist business owners in navigating various federal relief opportunities, and how to apply them to their financial situations.
“We help them… make sure that they have the capacity to pay that loan back,” said Frickey, explaining that consultants, in examining the financial status of clients, may find funds available they were unaware of, such as receivables yet to be collected, or assets not producing income that can be liquidated. “We want to make sure that, you know, our small business owners can qualify for these loans and have the ability to pay them back properly.”
Terri Denison, director of the SBA’s Georgia District Office, gave a presentation on other, non-disaster-relief programs the agency offers for businesses, focusing on three categories: capital access, counseling and education, and federal contracting assistance.
While the SBA doesn’t offer grants directly to small businesses to finance operations, Denison said, SBA capital access programs do offer microloans up to $50,000 (though the average loan size is about $13,884) funded by community-based profit organizations; 7(a) loans, up to $5 million, 504 loans from SBA-approved commercial lenders, and even guaranteed loans.
“Basically, when we guarantee a loan, we’re saying if something goes wrong with that loan, and the lender did everything they were supposed to do, closing it properly, administering it properly, we will reimburse them and agreed upon percentage of the balance of that loan,” said Denison.
For more information, visit https://lending.sba.gov.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
